Troutman Sanders LLP is an American law firm founded in 1897. The firm has 650 attorneys.[3] The firm is organized into 17 areas of legal practice within five departments: Corporate, Real Estate & Finance, Business Litigation, Specialized Litigation, and Energy and Regulatory.[4] Stephen E. Lewis is the firm's Managing Partner. Carl E. Sanders, the former Governor of Georgia, served as Chairman Emeritus until his death in 2014.[5][6]

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In 1897, Troutman Sanders was founded as the private practice of Walter T. Colquitt. Colquitt was well known in Atlanta near the end of the 19th century for his representation of the Georgia Railway and Electric Company, which would later become the Georgia Power Company.

In 1930, Colquitt formed a partnership with two brothers, Henry and Robert Troutman, both of whom were lawyers with clients such as Gulf Refining Company, the Georgia Real Estate Commission and the National Surety Company. Additionally, Colquitt had two other attorneys, Robert S. Parker and Preston Stanley Arkwright Jr., join the firm creating Colquitt, Parker, Troutman and Arkwright. For the next thirty years, the firm grew in size, reputation and client base, and went through a few name changes as partnerships were formed and broken. By the late 1960s, the firm was known as Troutman Sams Schroder & Lockerman.

In 1971, then-president of Georgia Power, Ed Hatch, suggested the merger of Troutman Sams Schroder & Lockerman with former Governor Carl Sanders' firm, Sanders Ashmore & Boozer. Hatch believed the merger would keep intact the decades of utility expertise of the Troutman firm, while merging the fresh talent and energy of Sanders’ young firm. The new firm would operate as Troutman Sanders Lockerman & Ashmore, until shortened to Troutman Sanders in 1992 when the firm moved from downtown Atlanta's Candler Building to Midtown Atlanta's new 55-story Bank of America Plaza.

From 1993-2015, Robert W. Webb Jr. served as managing partner, while the firm experienced growth in the United States and internationally. In 2001, Troutman Sanders merged with Mays & Valentine LLP, which added 150 attorneys to the firm and offices in Richmond, Tysons Corner and Virginia Beach, Virginia.[7] This spurred further growth and the subsequent opening of offices in Raleigh, N.C. (2003) and New York City with the acquisition of the New York office of Jenkens & Gilchrist Parker Chapin LLP in 2005.[8][9]

In 2006, Carl Sanders retired and Webb became the firm's Chairman and Managing Partner. In 2009, the firm merged with D.C.-based Ross Dixon & Bell.[10] Troutman Sanders' size grew to 15 offices after the merger, adding Chicago, Orange County, San Diego and doubling its D.C. presence. This brought the total number of attorneys to more than 650.[11][12]

In 2011, Stephen E. Lewis became the Managing Partner. In 2015, Webb retired and Lewis became Chairman as well.[13][14][15] The firm continued to expand, with offices opened in 2014 in Charlotte[16] and in 2015 in San Francisco.[17]

In January 2020, Troutman Sanders approved a merger with Pepper Hamilton, a Philadelphia-based firm.[18] Also in January, Troutman Sanders received a top rating of 100 percent in the Corporate Equality Index and recognized as ‘Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality’ for the 12th consecutive year. The annual survey is administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.[19][20]

The firm's headquarters are in Atlanta, with 11 additional locations in the United States: Richmond and Virginia Beach, VA; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; New York City; Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C.; Portland, OR; and Orange County, San Diego and San Francisco, CA[21]

Troutman Sanders Strategies, headed by Chairman Robb Willis[23], is a government relations and issue management firm with offices in Atlanta, Raleigh, Richmond and Washington, D.C. The group represents clients' public policy issues and needs at the federal, state and local levels. Troutman Sanders Strategies was known as Troutman Sanders’ Public Affairs Group until 2008.[24]